GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System
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Customer Reviews of GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System
Customer Review: Not Accurate at all!
Summary: 2 Stars
I have been using my armband for about a year now. I have found this product to be little more than a glorified Pedometer. The only exercise that this armband tracks is anything with hard impacts, not high impact. It does not track climbing a hill, because one walks slowly up a hill. It does not
track stationary rowing, weight lifting, any kind of strength training. It does not record lifting squatting, pushups, pullups.
I climb a hill that is about a 20% grade for three miles uphill. Even though I am sweating and huffing and puffing, all it seems to track is about half of my footsteps (I've counted and checked against the watch style monitor.) The amount of ergs or energy I'm expending is not really counted.
I also have an incline treadmill trainer. I don't get an accurate count of the exercise or energy I put out on it either.
This is, as it was explained to me by the manufacturer, because certain exercise does not have hard enough impacts (like a stepping while running).
Thus the glorified pedometer analogy. It does record running or walking fairly well.
As it is advertised on the website, it says it will track your activity all day long, even sleep. It does sleep fairly well. Don't buy this thing expecting that you will get any kind of accurate measure of any real work.
For example, one day I transferred about 600 lbs. of wood boards from a shed to my wood shop about 30 yards away, and stacked the wood on high shelves. Worthy enough work to exert some real energy. 60 steps were counted and about 50 calories burned according to the meter.
If the step is not a hard enough impact it doesn't count. This is why it does not record walking uphill. Slow or carfull walking does not excite the 3 way accelerometer
The tech support guy at the manufacturer and I had a long talk about all of these issues. They are aware of these drawbacks and he promised in about a month from when this is written, that they will be coming out with new firmware that will attempt to make the energy temperature/ moisture (sweat) sensors more accurate in their data gathering.
I discusses with him that they should really build a heart monitor into the armband and monitor system, saying that this is the data factor that they would need to really determine what kind of energy you are expending. Especially in other types of exercise that the accelerometers don't catch.
He said that they were working on this very issue and were trying to figure out the best way to achieve this.
I asked him if owners of the current system would receive a scaled down price because the current system does not deliver as promised, and his answer was that "when the new product is developed, that would more than likely be the case"
Anyway, I don't know how GoFit Wear can make any of the claims they do on the website. I do not feel that this expensive product is ready for prime time at this point. Maybe it will be when they include a heart rate monitor.
Until then, I would not consider purchasing this unless all you do is run or walk.
Customer Review: Not losing weight
Summary: 1 Stars
Hello everyone,
So I have had the armband for approximately two months and have worn it every day since then. Here is my review of it:
How it is GREAT-
1) The pedometer is accurate, so long as you are walking or running on hard surfaces. The sleep monitor is also accurate. On days when I feel that I haven't slept well, I can see my sleep deficit on the activity manager dashboard.
2) It is a wonderful motivator. I have the display device that I wear as a watch and I am constantly syncing it with the armband to see my stats. If I see that I am not burning enough calories, then I know it's time to get moving.
How it is just OKAY:
I have averaged a 400 calories deficit according to this device and have still not lost a pound. I measure my food with measuring cups, spoons, or a portable food scale, so I don't think that I am that far off with respect to calorie consumption. But still, no weight loss; I have been wondering--why is this?
My conclusion is the following:
1) I think that the monitor is as advertised - 90% accurate. That means that if the display says that I have burned 2400 calories, then all I have really burned is 2160. Since I set my calorie intake at 2,000 calories per day, then my calorie deficit is not high enough to lose a pound per week.
2) The standard setting for vigorous activity is not set high enough as walking at a moderate speed will count as vigorous activity. To change this, as I did today, you have to go into "preferences" and change the MET scale. I have now changed mine to the following standard: 3.5-8.0 METs will count as moderate activity (such as walking 3.5-4.5 MPH), and anything above 8+ MET's is vigorous activity (such as running 4.5+ MPH).
We will see if these changes fix my present dilemma. If they do, then I will upgrade my review to five stars as this product does what it advertises.
Update: Changing the MET scale did not really work. Slicing at least ten percent off of the total calorie burn did work somewhat, as I FINALLY lost a pound. After this, I decided to test the monitor for accuracy--I went to the gym, set a TRIP, and walked 30 minutes at 3.5 mph to see how many calories I burned. It told me that I burned 350 calories! which is WAYYYY off.
After talking to customer service and being told that "scientific tests show that this monitor is very accurate" I decided to contact Amazon and ask if I could return it for a full refund even though it was past the 30 day mark. They said yes...(thank God for Amazon! They have GREAT customer service).
Although this monitor didn't work for me, it IS highly motivational to get moving. If you have a lot of weight to lose, this just might be the ticket to get you going. But I am only trying to lose 10 pounds, and am already very active, so the accuracy when it comes to exercise is important to me and unfortunately didn't work well enough to help me lose weight.
Customer Review: A few quirks but I think it'll help me get to goal weight!
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been using this for four days now and am so pleased I purchased this product! There's a few minor quirks but overall I'm thrilled.
The device itself is comfortable to wear. I have VERY sensitive skin and have had no issues yet. I can't say I've forgotten it's there but I'm really most aware of it only when lying down on that side. I haven't worn it for a full 23 hours yet. The instructions say it should be loose enough to slip two fingers through so it doesn't have to be tight to work. It plays a few musical notes to tell you it's gathering data - I've noticed an occasional delay of a few minutes after putting it on before it "sings". Battery life is great - I'm only 50% through my first charge after four days. It's mostly unnoticeable under clothing unless you wear something tight. It will be visible under short sleeves since it sits just above your elbow. If that's a problem, look for short sleeve shirts that come down to your elbow.
First, for Mac users it doesn't work with Snow Leopard at this time. No way, no how. I'm using Parallels and it does sync just fine with Firefox using Windows XP. Installation was fairly straightforward, although I did have to search to find the drivers to install the hardware before connecting it. It wasn't a direct link from the "Getting Started" area. Installation took about ten minutes - could have been five if the documentation was a less scattered but I've had way worse install experiences. Also, I went nuts trying to figure out where the USB port on the device is - I found instructions later in the online pdf but not the instruction book that came with the device. Turns out the gray middle piece pops out of the black frame and the port is on the side.
The calorie logging software works but is a little picky. I tried searching for "McDonalds" as a test and got no results. Turns out the app wants an 's and anything else isn't an exact match. You can shorten your search terms and get results - i.e. search for "McDo". I'd like to see a more intelligent search function, like what Google does when it asks "Did you mean..." Adding your own foods is easy though.
I like the online activity manager - it's pretty cool to see your calories burned by doing ordinary stuff. I'm not entirely certain how it calculates or if it's truly accurate. I did an hour on the elliptical today but it only showed 35 minutes. Were my warm up and cool down slow and so it registered those minutes as "steps" instead of "exercise"? Possibly, because my step count for the day is higher than usual. It also registered six minutes of sleep last night while I was lying down watching a movie and I'm certain I was awake through the entire DVD. Still, even if it's a little off it has me thinking more about how to get more activity in, which will help my weight loss in the long run. I'm a fairly reluctant exerciser and making that little exercise bar move is very motivating! As far as I'm concerned anything that increases my workouts is a good thing!
Customer Review: WOW! The Missing Link In My Weight Loss!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a little hesitant to purchase this because it's a decent chunk of change, but I went ahead with it. I'm SO GLAD I did. This is kind of the missing piece for me. I've always been the type that views weight loss in compartments. So if I didn't workout one day, then I'd blow the whole day and eat pretty bad. If I ate a cupcake, I'd call it a day and splurge the rest of the day...and maybe just start back on monday.
The BodyBugg is THE ANSWER if you're like me. You start to see that it's not just going to the gym that burns calories, but everything you do. So I started parking further at work, going for walks at lunch, working out a bit longer, and taking the stairs. I also started viewing things as exercise that I used to not, like just playing around with my son. Even being a little active helps increase the amount of calories per minute that you burn. I always knew this, but it's so helpful to actually see them add up throughout the day.
Since the calories burned is pretty accurate (90%), it's just simple math. I aim to hit my calories burn everyday. And I make much smarter decisions, like if I'm going out to eat that night, I'll make it a point to be extra active during the day to increase my burn. I used to maybe get during the week right, but then completely take a step back on the weekend and do no diet or exercise. Now my weekends are just SLIGHT calorie deficits instead of bigger ones.
The result is that just after a few weeks of using this, I lost 12 pounds. It's the fastest I've ever lost that amount. The bodybugg isn't a miracle worker, but it gives you the confidence that you're doing the right things since you know your burn and you can log your calories. At the end of the week, you should see what you SHOULD weigh and if it's less, then you need to reevaluate how you logged your food. But generally, the little ups/downs smooth out over time. Just keep going for the deficit.
Now for bullet point on the specifics:
-The device needs to be charged when you get it, for 3 hours.
-The Display is an absolute must have. Personally, if you're going to get the bodybugg, get the display. The only way I wouldn't (maybe) if I was short on cash and had access to plug it into a computer all day to get updates. I can't tell you how many times I look at my burn rate and think "I should take a walk to get moving"
-The system is really easy to setup. There's some questions you answer and then it creates your profile. From there, you can update your food and it will give you the breakdown of fat, carbs, and protein as well as total calories.
-The upload of the data is also very simple. Simply just plug it in and it will put all your information into the system. The bodybugg can also hold about 7 days worth of data so you don't need to do it everyday if you are away.
Overall, I absolutely love this thing. In my view, I'd take this over an 8 month membership to the gym.
Customer Review: So far,so good!
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received my GoWear this afternoon...and I'm absolutely excited! I read a lot of reviews on this site as well as others, and I was hoping this item would my good "kick in the butt"! Set-up was a breeze for me. Although I'm pretty good with computers, I can tell this would be easy to use for someone who isnt as computer savvy. Immediately, it asks for your height, weight, age, gender, etc. and with that it calculates about what your daily caloric consumption is (which may make your jaw drop!). I want everyone to realize that GoWear has improved some features, so now you have the option of a 3-day assessment OR...you can log meals DAILY! I realized they just added that feature and some older reviews voice that maybe a 3-day is less accurate. Also, there's a free 3month trial with this purchase on amazon. I received my GoWear with a promo code that I enter in when I go to GoWear's website to install the program. To be honest, I was a little worried that maybe things wouldn't go so smoothly when it came to the promo code, but it wasn't a hassle at all! Just know that they do want you to decide right then which type of subscription term you'd like to continue with, after the 3 month term is over. I just chose the 1 month for 12.95. I'll decide whether or not I'd like to extend that for a longer term after the 4 months. 6 months is 9ish a month, and 12 months is 6ish a month. Very cheap considering its your health, and it's equivalent to purchasing a couple of Starbucks coffees a month(which are loaded with calories by the way!)! I'm extremely excited to get started and log on tomorrow. Already I want to lose this weight, and I can tell that this program is a stepping stone to that goal. The main thing is I see everything in writing...I'm not counting calories in my head. This machine is the wake up call I NEED. I will report again soon with a follow up!
Update***
It's been a few days and this product is awesome. I'm kind of in shock...it's so accurate. I keep it on all day and night(minus showers and uploading the info) so about 22hrs or so. This little device knows when I'm driving to and from work or when I work out! It shows it on my chart. It breaks everything down to a very easy to read, informative chart...well, a few charts. After about a week, you are able to print a report to check your progress over specific time frames, its just awesome! I'm so excited to get home from workeveryday and upload all of the information. It disappoints me when I see that I havn't hit my goal for "target calories burned" and it makes me want to go work out...which I need! And that's all I've ever wanted was a good kick in the butt! This is a MUST BUY for those of you that have no motivation who are stubborn or who are just plain lazy like I was! To see it in writing is definately a mind-opening experience. I LOVE this product! BUY IT!